TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested the manager of a private massage parlor in Bunkyo Ward for illegally employing a 12-year-old Thai girl, reports NHK (Nov. 6).
Between June and July of this year, Masayuki Hosono, the 51-year-old owner of the private massage parlor, is alleged to have illegally employed the Thai girl to supply sexual services.
Police have not revealed whether Hosono admits to violating the Labor Standards Act by employing a child under the age of 15.
“Wait for me”
According to police, the girl entered Japan with her mother on a short-term visa in late June, after which her mother took her to the parlor and explained erotic massage techniques to her.
Police said that her mother later came to see her in mid-July, bringing her baby with her. She instructed the girl, “This child is your younger brother, and I’m going back to Thailand with this child tomorrow. I’ll come to pick you up, so keep working and wait for me.”
The girl later said to police, “I was shocked because I didn’t know about my younger brother’s existence. I really wanted to go home too, but I couldn’t tell my mother because I was afraid she would get angry.”
Sleep near kitchen
While at the parlor, the girl was forced to work and sleep near the kitchen. Police said that the parlor made about 620,000 yen from 61 customers given sexual services by the girl.
The girl was not paid, with the parlor and the mother splitting the revenues she accrued. Hosono covered the girl’s living expenses. The money for the mother was wired to a bank account in the name of a person connected to her.
The incident came to light when the girl visited the Tokyo Immigration Bureau herself in mid-September. The girl is currently being protected by relevant authorities, but has expressed a desire to return to Thailand.
Police are investigating the situation in detail, including whether it was a case of human trafficking.
